Alf McMichael

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Alf McMichael
Personnel
Surname Alfred McMichael
birthday October 1, 1927
place of birth Belfast ,  Northern Ireland
date of death January 7, 2006
Place of death Belfast ,  Northern Ireland
position Defense
Juniors
Years station
Cliftonville FC
Linfield FC
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1945-1949 Linfield FC
1949-1963 Newcastle United 402 (1)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1949-1960 Northern Ireland 40 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

Alfred "Alf" McMichael (born October 1, 1927 in Belfast , † January 7, 2006 ) was a Northern Irish football player and coach.

Athletic career

McMichael played as a youth for Cliftonville FC and Linfield FC , for which he made his adult debut in 1945. In 1948 he won the Irish Cup with the team and the championship a year later. In September 1949, George Martin brought him to Newcastle United , where the full-back was promoted to national team alongside George Hannah , Ernie Taylor , Jackie Milburn , George Robledo and Bobby Mitchell . While the team reached the final of the FA Cup in 1951 , he had to pass due to injury in the 2-0 victory over FC Blackpool . In the successful defense of the title, he formed together with Bobby Cowell and center runner Frank Brennan the defensive line, which remained clean in the 1-0 win against London Arsenal . Undisputed regular player on the left side of defense, he missed another cup success in 1955 due to an injury - in the 3-1 win against Manchester City , he was only left with the role of spectator. Although the team was successful in the cup, in the league it was only enough to place in the middle of the table. At the end of the 1950s, the club slipped into the relegation zone, in 1958 only the better goal quotient compared to the tied rivals Portsmouth and Sunderland FC saved a relegation zone. Two years later, the team around McMichael, Ivor Allchurch , Dick Keith and George Eastham ended the season in eighth place in the table, only to relegate to the second division as penultimate in the following year. He stayed with the club for two more seasons before ending his league football career in 1963 and coaching South Shields FC as a coach and player-coach until 1969 . He then returned to Northern Ireland and took over the coaching position at Bangor FC . He later turned his back on football and worked at the Harland & Wolff shipyard .

Just a month after moving to England, McMichael made his debut for the Northern Irish national team . As part of the qualifying round of the World Cup in 1950 , serving British Home Championship he lost on the side of Samuel Smyth , Danny Blanchflower and Jackie Vernon against Scotland with 2: 8th In the following years he was a regular member of the national team as a defender who played a key role in ensuring that the Northern Irish national team prevailed against the then record world champions Italy and qualified for the 1958 World Cup finals . At the tournament taking place in Sweden, he played all four group games including the play-off for second place in the table against Czechoslovakia . Two days after the 2-1 win after extra time, he and his exhausted team-mates lost in the quarter-finals of the French national team around Raymond Kopa , Maryan Wisnieski , Just Fontaine and Roger Piantoni in the 4-0 defeat. Two years later he ended his national team career after 40 internationals .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ spartacus-educational.com: "Alf McMichael"

Web links

personal data
SURNAME McMichael, Alf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McMichael, Alfred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Northern Irish soccer player and coach
DATE OF BIRTH October 1, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Belfast , UK
DATE OF DEATH January 7, 2006